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Requesting Community Assistance - Beta Testing TBS1 on Steam

Banner Saga 1 is being updated to the latest version of the engine. Quite a bit of cleanup happened under the hood, but also this adds in some improvements that exist in TBS2. We need your help to make sure everything is working properly. Please report bugs and discuss the beta in this thread, or join us on our Steam Forums!

How do I access Beta?

Right click Banner Saga in your Steam Library

Click on Properties

Navigate to the “BETAS” tab

Use the dropdown menu to select “beta” branch

Download the Update

Launch Banner Saga

Changes in this build:

Final Bellower battle tuned to be less difficult (see below)

Chapter 6 supply opportunities increased (see below)

Upgrade '+' sign shows up on hero icons in heroes tent when appropriate

Extended tooltips in battle

on stat banner, buffs, and items.

on hazards such as slag-and-burn, coals, etc...

Match Resolution:

Consequences tab shows injured units

Achievements tab shows new achievements

Items tab shows newly acquired items

Idling close caravan now uses idle anims for heroes (e.g. at godstones)

Fix missing normal ships after Vognir arrives in Strand

News Ticker on Start Screen (see TBS2 notes)

Injured units to not heal during travel, only when Resting in camp/village

Injured units' str penalty now equals the number of days of injury remaining

Bellower's ARM/STR regen during the second battle is still +1/+1 for all difficulties.

2. Chapter 6 Supplies

...towns in the final world travel have more supplies and items for sale:

1. Haukstorp, the first village after Einartoft which was ransacked by dredge (now 50 supplies at 10/renown, and 3 items)
2. The first village past Sigrholm (now has 145 supplies, up from 98), and between 3-5 items.

General Notes

The game needs a full pass, including multiple difficulty settings, with particular attention payed to the complex situations in Frostvellr, Einartoft, and Boersgard. If possible, please compare this beta against the live build on Steam to make sure everything is still working as before.

Based on the upgrades, here are some potential breakages to take special care in watching out for:

Variable Prereqs: things appearing or occurring in the wrong order or not at all. When the player makes a choice, the side effects should correctly affect events in the future just as before.

Variable scene anims: things not animating when they should, or incompletely

Save import. We run a risk of issues importing saves into TBS2. Issues could arise in BOTH SITUATIONS: from older versions of Tbs1 and new version of tbs1... into tbs2.

Units may take on the wrong appearance: look like their TBS2 version instead of TBS1 version

Bellower fight needs extra attention, in all 3 difficulty modes

Talents should be entirely disabled and invisible to the player in every way

Developer Superpowers

You can run the game in developer mode to gain access to a variety of cheats, fast-forwards, bookmark teleports, diagnostics, and other fun stuff. For more information, please see this Banner Saga Developer Cheatsheet.

Patch Changes (2.35.09):

When returning to Frostvellr at the beginning of Chapter 4, supplies are now as they were at the end of chapter 2 (even though time has passed -- let's assume the party has been foraging)

Lots of stuff you got going there! Sounds like you "sync'd" Saga1 with Saga2 engine, while disabling the extra/new features (e.g. Talents)? We have to be on our toes for such a big "refactoring" of the game engine!

Some points right off the bat:

1. Bellower tweaks should hit the sweet spot. Reducing his Regen rate on Normal definitely makes it easier. Maybe +3ARM/+3STR (you're proposing +1ARM/+3STR) would help maintain some of the challenge...

>2. Concerning the Boersgard last battle, did you per chance implement the "multiple active abilities" for Rook/Alette? You know, just like Eyvind (and most Saga 2 units) to give them access to both their regular active ability (which was disabled) and the Silver-Arrow one? EDIT: I saw you implemented this; nice!

3. More supplies on Chapter 6 is cool. Is Haukstorp close to the start of the Chapter?

4. You should also do something about the "fixed 3-days-of-Supplies on Chapter 4 start" issue. Maybe zero the Marketplace supply units on Chapter 2 ending, just like YaK did in his mod?

Any of Yak's fixes/improvements added to the core game officially? And by association any of these bugs fixed? :

Originally Posted by Yellow

Updated my bug list to include screenshots, as well as added a couple of other bugs...

- Gunnulf starts with 2 skill points in Exertion on the tutorial, but later on he has 0 points on that skill.
- Alette has wrong bio after the battle with Bellower, when she puts the hood up.
- After the fight with Bellower, during Alette and Iver conversation, Alette's look is different depending on the perspective(On one she has the hood up, on the other she does not)
- No varls or fighters join you caravan(add to the total number) when you leave Einartoft, even when the text says that almost half the garrison follows you.
- Udin's caravan don't add any numbers to yours when they join you shortly after leaving Einartoft!
- When Rook and Juno go get the silver from the godstone, in the text it says "Rook woke up following Juno", but in the background picture is the other way around, Juno following Rook.
- There is a typo when talking to Tryggvi the first time(after leaving SKOGR) He says that we should not trust men with helmets, that they look at "your"(should be you) trough their helmet and lie....
- The camp screen does not match the composition of your caravan: Sometimes you have 0 valrs but on the camp screen there are several displayed; sometimes you have more varls than humans, but on the camp screen there is 100 humans for each valr, etc.
- The "far travel" caravan on the background, does not match the actual caravan composition(even if your caravan has varls, clansmen and fighters, only one type is displayed on the background picture)(this is hard to notice because of the small size, but once noticeable it breaks immersion)
- There is a misplaced tree in the background(shortly before Onef betrays you)
- "Exertion" sometimes gets bugged when your hero has 0 willpower left, even if you use the horn to regain willpower, the character remains unable to use it, as the exertion skill gets stuck on 0 for the current hero until next turn.

+ Nid starts at level 1(she should starts at level 3-5 in stead, since she joins so late and there are so little fights left. (All other Characters that join so late into the game start maxed out already)(not necessarily a bug but rather a suggestion)

a. Bellower's back portrait not visible, when going for Last Battle. Only the border red highlight shows, on hover.20161101232930_1.jpg

b. Last Battle / Phase #2: Was Bello always starting the second phase with 18/18 instead of 20/20 (Normal)? Also, his infobox lists both passives (Indomitable and Enraged), whereas it should list only one (Enraged), no? 20161101233359_1.jpg

>2. Concerning the Boersgard last battle, did you per chance implement the "multiple active abilities" for Rook/Alette? You know, just like Eyvind (and most Saga 2 units) to give them access to both their regular active ability (which was disabled) and the Silver-Arrow one? EDIT: I saw you implemented this; nice!

The above was an accident, but I guess it's ok to keep?

3. More supplies on Chapter 6 is cool. Is Haukstorp close to the start of the Chapter?

4. You should also do something about the "fixed 3-days-of-Supplies on Chapter 4 start" issue. Maybe zero the Marketplace supply units on Chapter 2 ending, just like YaK did in his mod?

I can deduct the _correct_ amount (based on the number of days elapsed). Does this sound ok?

I can deduct the _correct_ amount (based on the number of days elapsed). Does this sound ok?

I suppose this is a bit exploitable... if at the beginning of chapter 4 the correct number of supplies are deducted, but there is no starvation penalty, you would be better off having zero supplies at the end of chapter 2.

Sure It will take some testing to see that everything works as intended though. For the record, I was able to loose the Silver-Arrow with Rook, so that's a good sign. But, I don't recall if I had any Willpower when I activated the ability...

Originally Posted by John

I suppose this is a bit exploitable... if at the beginning of chapter 4 the correct number of supplies are deducted, but there is no starvation penalty, you would be better off having zero supplies at the end of chapter 2.

The most appropriate solution would be this: At the start of Ch4 the player has 3+X days of supplies, where X is the days-of-supplies purchased at the end of Ch2. If that is not possible, I think the other solution (zero supplies at Ch2, equivalent to X=0) is the way to go...

EDIT: Seeing your intentions here, I say: Don't do it! Chapter 3 lasts for several days, so the Skogr caravan is likely to starve to death outside Frostvellr! The "time gap" (Ch2/end...Ch4/start) can be left as it is, without a full explanation, assuming that an indefinite amount of days passed but the caravan managed to sustain itself, somehow.

I think its great to keep the regular active abilities, the silver arrow should not replace them in my opinion.

Originally Posted by John

I can deduct the _correct_ amount (based on the number of days elapsed). Does this sound ok?

Sounds good to me.

Originally Posted by John

I suppose this is a bit exploitable... if at the beginning of chapter 4 the correct number of supplies are deducted, but there is no starvation penalty, you would be better off having zero supplies at the end of chapter 2.

Well, we could always add an starvation penalty off-screen if one ends chapter 2 with 0 suplies?

@John -- I played the first chapter. Here's some more comments & suggestions:

1. [Suggestion] Confirm Difficulty Level on "Start New Game" -- This would help all those guys that lost the "Hard" achievements for switching after the tutorial...

2. [Suggestion] Skip tutorial fight (Strand Great Hall) -- A fast-forward mode of the fight, without the tooltips would be extra nice.

3. [Inconsistency] Gunnulf 2EXE at Tutorial, 0EXE afterwards-- You could tweak the tutorial to address this slight discrepancy, e.g. have the Shieldbanger perform the exerted movement & attack.

4. [Inconsistency] Nobleman Mead House fight -- Deployment zones are used, but are formally introduced later, in Chapter 2... Deployment zones are also used in Training Tent battles near the end of Chapter 1.

5. [Inconsistency] Nobleman Mead House fight -- HUD displays the Great Morale icon/buff (next to Willpower), but Morale is formally introduced later. Also, why is it that Ubin's mini-caravan has Great Morale? From his monologue in the beginning of the game, one would assume Normal to be more appropriate, story wise.

6. [Inconsistency] Strand, fleets gone? -- After the meeting at the docks the multitude of ships has disappeared from the Strand port.

7. [Suggestion] Close-travel bubble-talk/convo icon -- I think that bubble icon (including the round hero/character portrait in the middle) could be redesigned for a more Viking-esque look.

8. [Check] Morale change flytext -- I got a flytext that "Morale has declined", but the icon/status stayed at "Great". Kinda strange, especially for the first time you're bothered with Morale, before Vendrfell.9. [Check] Sparring/Training Tent: Kills count for Promotions -- Seems like that Saga2 change found its way to Saga1. Nice You should maybe stress this in the patch notes, as a lot of players struggle to get Kills on their heroes from story battles.

Last edited by Aleonymous; 11-05-2016 at 03:16 PM.
Reason: Added a "tag/label" to each of my entries.

@John -- I played the first chapter. Here's some more comments & suggestions:

1. Confirm Difficulty Level on "Start New Game" -- This would help all those guys that lost the "Hard" achievements for switching after the tutorial...

2. Skip tutorial fight (Strand Great Hall) -- A fast-forward mode of the fight, without the tooltips would be extra nice.

3. Gunnulf 2EXE inconsistency -- You could tweak the tutorial to address this slight discrepancy, e.g. have the Shieldbanger perform the exerted movement & attack.

4. Nobleman Mean House fight -- Deployment zones are used, but are formally introduced later, in Chapter 2... Deployment zones are also used in Training Tent battles near the end of Chapter 1.

5. Nobleman Mean House fight -- HUD displays the Great Morale icon/buff (next to Willpower), but Morale is formally introduced later. Also, why is it that Ubin's mini-caravan has Great Morale? From his monologue in the beginning of the game, one would assume Normal to be more appropriate, story wise.

6. Strand, fleets gone? -- After the meeting at the docks the multitude of ships has disappeared from the Strand port.

7. Close-travel bubble-talk/convo icon -- I think that bubble icon (including the round hero/character portrait in the middle) could be redesigned for a more Viking-esque look.

8. Morale change flytext -- I got a flytext that "Morale has declined", but the icon/status stayed at "Great". Kinda strange, especially for the first time you're bothered with Morale, before Vendrfell.

9. Sparring/Training Tent: Kills count for Promotions -- Seems like that Saga2 change found its way to Saga1. Nice You should maybe stress this in the patch notes, as a lot of players struggle to get Kills on their heroes from story battles.

I'll second the Training Tent kills counting for promotions staying in. I thought that was a great improvement because it can be difficult to get kills with characters who's main role is as a breaker, especially on hard when you have to be serious about fights and can't wait for a different character to get the kill.

I played Chapter 2 and little of 3. Here's some more comments and suggestions:

10. [Suggestion] Visual Autosave indicator -- It would be nice to know when the game actually saves. Alternatively, some text like "Game last saved X minutes" when you choose to quit/exit?

11. [Suggestion] Starving Dredge fight-- Battle against one enemy only ==> no Pillage mode. That's kinda counter intuitive, given the time you took to explain the turn order in the first tutorial. Better fix it (Saga2/SM turn order!) or explain that it's a "special case".

12. [Suggestion] Supplies tutorial -- It is introduced with Rook & Alette "mini caravan" to Skogr, having zero population... I understand you want the player to know about supplies when he takes those decisions (before, and while in, Skogr), but it feels out of place here. It would be better for the supplies tutorial to take place in Chapter 1, after Ubin+Vognir leave Strand.

13. [Suggestion] Difficulty tutorial/tip -- It would be nice to explicitly tell what changes with the Difficulty settings: enemy stats (ARM & STR) and number/classes.

14. [Check] Item prices -- The rates have dropped to 2R/ItemRank, like in Saga2, instead of the 5R/rank... Intended?

15. [Check] Heroes Tent / Stats -- Clicking or hovering on stat icons should provided some tooltip or info, right? I think it did so... Now, only a sound is heard, on click.

16. [Check] Skogr battle #3 -- When choosing to fight for the supplies and then getting Iver to recapture some of the carts, the ensuing battle takes place on this board. Is this correct? I think the board was once again one with houses etc.

17. [Inconsistency] Chapter 3 start -- It's weird to start with Great Morale, when your caravan leader was just killed by Dredge... Just saying.

Last edited by Aleonymous; 11-05-2016 at 03:14 PM.
Reason: Added a "tag/label" to each of my entries.

I played Chapter 2 and little of 3. Here's some more comments and suggestions:

10. Visual Autosave indicator -- It would be nice to know when the game actually saves. Alternatively, some text like "Game last saved X minutes" when you choose to quit/exit?

11. Starving Dredge fight-- Battle against one enemy only ==> no Pillage mode. That's kinda counter intuitive, given the time you took to explain the turn order in the first tutorial. Better fix it (Saga2/SM turn order!) or explain that it's a "special case".

12. Supplies tutorial -- It is introduced with Rook & Alette "mini caravan" to Skogr, having zero population... I understand you want the player to know about supplies when he takes those decisions (before, and while in, Skogr), but it feels out of place here. It would be better for the supplies tutorial to take place in Chapter 1, after Ubin+Vognir leave Strand.

13. Difficulty tutorial/tip -- It would be nice to explicitly tell what changes with the Difficulty settings: enemy stats (ARM & STR) and number/classes.

14. Item prices -- The rates have dropped to 2R/ItemRank, like in Saga2, instead of the 5R/rank... Intended?

15. Heroes Tent / Stats -- Clicking or hovering on stat icons should provided some tooltip or info, right? I think it did so... Now, only a sound is heard, on click.

16. Skogr battle #3 -- When choosing to fight for the supplies and then getting Iver to recapture some of the carts, the ensuing battle takes place on this board. Is this correct? I think the board was once again one with houses etc.

17. Chapter 3 start -- It's weird to start with Great Morale, when your caravan leader was just killed by Dredge... Just saying.

Can we get a reputation botton on the forums? That way i dont have to write a message everytime i agree with greats comments ^^) anyways... +1

OK, completed Chapter 3 and found a few bugs, both old and new. Marking the important ones in red and the battle-related ones in blue. Oh, they're quite a lot

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18. [Suggestion] "Indisposed heroes"-- Heroes in the caravan but not available for the current battle could appear in the Roster but be marked somehow as "unavailable". It's sometimes frustrating to see heroes you just talked to being unavailable. Also, the grayed-out Roster portraits of Heroes in the Party ain't gray enough, in my opinion...

19. [Bug] Battle stuck-- In a sparring fight, Bersi did a Tempest, Ubin commented on that, but then turn wouldn't pass on to the next enemy unit. The sky-blue circle kept rotating around Bersi. I had to exit training. I can provide logs if you like.

20. [Inconsistency] Talents-- Saw a mention of them in the pre-Promotion pop-up window: "Higher Stats and Talents" together with "Increase your Item Rank" etc

21. [Inconsistency] Player head-count in War was all zeros, for my Varl and Fighters, even though I had hundreds of them. It happened in all Wars.

22. [Suggestion] Wars-- Enemy head-count should be less accurate, for example rounded in to the closest hundred: 1325/1389 Dredge should be referred to as "over 1300" / "close to 1400".

23. [Suggestion] Wars-- Loot drop-chance for winning second waves should be increased. The only reason worth taking 2nd waves is Renown, now that Kills from sparring fights count and assuming that population and Morale effects are negligible. I took on five second waves and got no items. I actually think it should be 100%... Hakon's caravan has too few items and few markets, whereas it fights half a dozen Wars, in Chapter 3.

24. [Inconsistency] War-- Resolution break-down (Promotions, Injuries, Items) does not show for War battles; at least not after winning second waves. Only the Kills/Casualties banner is shown, and then the total Renown.

25. [Bug] Battering Ram not causing extra BRK damage from going through other units. It happened at least once, on Griss. I can provide logs.

26. [Check]-- I didn't notice any "+2 Renown" mini-banners when killing high rank enemies, like Dredge Destroyers (blue-variety Scourges). Does it work like in Saga2, or all enemies are +1, flat? EDIT: A Stoneguard Colossus (purple), killed in the Stonesinger fight in Einartoft/Ch4, did produce a "+2 Renown" banner. EDIT#2: OK, I slew a couple of blue Scourge and got "+2 Renown" banners, so I was probably mistaken; strike this one off!

27. [Reminder] Stoneguard Kindle AI is still kinda buggy. Honestly, I think that more-often-than-not it's best not to move the Stoneguard if it decides to perform Kindle...

28. [Suggestion] Hero close-travel (caravan) mini-sprites could show when in Camp or in a Town/village; you know standing outside some tent etc. 29. [Inconsistency] Fasolt's promotion portrait is blank in battle-resolution screen.

30. [Suggestion] The Schlid Varl that join you in Chapter 3 don't bring any Supplies at all. Weird, considering there's a couple hundred of them.

31. [Suggestion] Godstones are sometimes hard to see in world-travel mode. Maybe they could have their name written over them, in cyan, like major cities do.

32. [Inconsistency] Ridgehorn fort (close travel) only shows manned and populated by Varl only after you enter the Heroes tent. It should show like that right after you exit the little convo where Hakon tells Mogr to set up defenses and clear any hiding Dredge.

33. [Inconsistency] Slinger variety called "Marksman" is a bit off, since we later find out that they're actually Dredge females.

34. [Suggestion] Grofheim burning should be shown for a longer time, before it cuts out to Chapter 4. It's one of the best scenes in the game and it's literally shown for one second...

35. [Bug] Shieldwall bonus kept even though adjacent Raider was killed: Look how Iver can do zero ARM damage to this green Thrasher, whose remaining 2ARM is most likely from Shieldwall; notice the fallen beige Thrasher. For the record, +WIL did not increase the damage, and I went for it anyhow, and it didn't reduce (so, at least it's consistent!).20161105184505_1.jpg

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I also added colors and "tags" to my previous two reports, from Chapters 1 and 2.